The real Angel Experiment
by AmiRide
Summary: The Maximum Ride movie is in production, and the actors of The Flock form a close bond on set. But what happens when Katie-Rose, the little girl who plays Angel, disappears, exactly around the time where Angel is kidnapped in the movie? And what happens when the rest of The movie Flock's lives begin to scarily resemble The Angel Experiment? Because now they are in TAE-for real.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi!**

**Iggy: Hi!**

**Me: *rolls eyes***

**Anyways, who's excited for mah new Fanfic? MEEEE! Anyone else?**

***cricket cricket***

**OOookay then. Whatevs.**

**This story rocks, by the way. I really love it, I hope you do too. Remember, review to spread the love!**

**Okay, now I'm babbling.**

**Dis-thingy: I woke up one morning after a really good dream, and I was like, "YES! I OWN MR!"**

**And then Angel was like, "no you don't."**

**Me: ._.**

**So apparently I don't own MR. And, yeah, I'm not JP either. Just saying.**

* * *

chapter one: Yeah, I didn't think of a chapter title yet.

Oh my gosh, Alicia! Can you believe it?" Savannah asked, bouncing up and down in her airplane seat. She gave me a huge grin. "I mean, in a few short hours, we are going to meet _Candace Freeman. _Candace Freeman, 'Leece!" Savannah was having trouble containing her happiness.

I smiled and nodded. Hey, I wasn't one for words.

"Talk a little, Alicia. You can't be Nudge and not talk."

Yep. You heard it right.

Savannah and I had been best friends since the second grade. We balanced each other out perfectly. I was the quiet one, Savannah wouldn't shut up. She loved fashion, I couldn't care less. Well, I mean, I cared how I looked, just not as much as Savannah did. I was black, she was Hispanic. I loved food, she was on a diet. I had the unruly brown curls of an African-American girl; her glossy hair was black and wavy. But we both had brown eyes, big grins and _loved _acting.

Which brings us around to March of the eighth grade.

"Hurry up, 'Leece!" Savannah shouted, grabbing my arm. "We can't be late!"

I nodded agitatedly and hurried after her. We both groaned when we saw the line that was waiting for us.

"Oh no," Savannah moaned. "We might not make it." I nodded sadly and tried to ignore the number of black girls in line. Most of them were breathtaking and I felt like a potato, even after 'Vannah had dolled me up.

The girl in question seemed to sense my unease and squeezed my hand. "We both know you're going to make it, Alicia," she reassured me. "You're beautiful and a great actress and Angelina Jolie's got nothing on you."

I laughed. "You'll make it too," I promised. "You're so confident they'll take one look at you and go, Okay, we've got the one for the part. Everyone else scram!" We both grinned.

What were we doing? Well, Savannah and I have both gotten the leads for every one of our school plays for the past four years. Our director had a contact, and suggested we try out for him to see if we could snag a role in a movie. Savannah's reaction had been to squeal, and I had grinned enthusiastically. I didn't do squealing.

And now we were in line behind around 200 other kids.

We laughed our way to the front of the line, each of us making jokes stupider and more ridiculous than the other. I didn't notice the time pass, and soon it was my turn. All laughing stopped, and my stomach dropped and filled with gargantuan Amazon butterflies. Savannah's gigantic hair clip had nothing on them.

'Vannah squeezed my hand one last time and I stepped into the room. Three stern faces and a camera stared calmly back at me. Only one woman looked energetic and young. I took a liking to her immediately.

"Hi," I said, smiling nervously. "I'm Alicia Winters, and I'm here for an acting role." They seemed to relax at the sound of my voice. Funny, I've always had that effect on people.

"Of course," said the pretty young woman. "I'm Corinne Sloan. Let's see what you can do."

The other three stern faces nodded. I felt like the camera was nodding too.

For the next ten minutes, I did my best acting. I laughed, I cried, I glared. They looked truly intimidated by my glare, and I almost cracked up. I even did a scene with some truly realistic squealing. I just copied what I thought Savannah would do if she were in the same situation. They looked enchanted. During my scene being a mean girl, I smacked some non-existent strawberry gum and tossed my curls for effect. My voice became nasal and loud, and I rolled my eyes dramatically. Finally, I showed them my special skill: singing. I sang for them until one of the strict faces softened and teared up. I almost cracked a grin at that. When I finished, one of the strict people said, "So you're one of those two talented girls Janice was telling me about."

I nodded and smiled. "The other one, my best friend Savannah, is outside."

"Excellent," another one said. "Well, that was fantastic, Alicia. We will let you know if you will be cast in something say, around, April 23rd. How does that sound?"

"Great," I said, smiling again because that's what you do to make people like you. "Thank you so much for your time."

Before I left, Corinne beckoned me over.

"I'm positive you'll get cast in something," she said in a low voice so that the others wouldn't hear her, smiling friendlily. I grinned and floated out of the door on a cloud of happiness.

Savannah and I sweated the whole month of March, trying to distract ourselves and tell each other that we failed so that we didn't get our hopes up. But we both knew we had done well, and would be crushed if we didn't get a part. Finally, one day, my mother burst into the kitchen where Savannah and I were stuffing our faces with cookies.

"Bad news, girls," she said, looking close to tears. "You didn't get a part." Savannah and I looked at each other and Savannah's lower lip trembled. "Just kidding!" Mom yelled. "YOU MADE IT!"

I actually squealed along with Savannah.

"Mom! Don't ever do that again!" I yelled. "I was so scared!"

Mom just grinned.

What she hadn't told us was that Savannah and I had been cast as Nudge and Ella in _The Angel Experiment_, book one of our favorite series of all time, Maximum Ride.

"'Leece? Alicia? You there?" Savannah called, waving her hand in front of my face. I realized that I had spaced out and blinked.

"Yeah? What did I miss?"

"Well, I was _saying_, I can't believe that we're actually going to be in a movie with _Candace Freeman_. Can you believe it?"

Oh right, it was June now. Eighth grade was over.

"Nope," I agreed, touching down to reality.

"Come on, Alicia, talk! You have to talk to be the Nudge Channel," Savannah said in a _duh _voice.

"And isn't Ella a little more laid back? She doesn't _squeal_," I retorted. Savannah pouted.

"Well, we're not going to be Ella and Nudge until the plane lands," she reasoned. "I can keep being Savannah and you can keep being a female Fang."

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, Miss Tall, Dark, and Silent, how do I know that you can actually act like Nudge?"

"Well, I got cast, didn't I?" I said in a_ duh _voice.  
Now it was Savannah's turn to roll her eyes.

"Prove it," she said stoutly.

I sighed in exasperation and my face stretched into a huge grin. "ZOMG, 'Vans! Like, I'm Nudge, and everyone says I talk a lot! Eww, Gazzy, that was, like, totally gross!" I bunched up my nose in fake disgust. "Anyways, I think Max and Fang would be sooooooo cute together, don't you? Like, they're always, like, looking at each other, and, like, totally having eye convos! I wish Max would let me get a cell phone so I could get people's numbers, and, like, text them and, like, totally become BFFLs! Do you have a phone? What's you're number? ZOMG, we could, like, totally become super-BFFLs! Huh, you think?"

Savannah stared at me, wide-eyed.

"So, convincing enough?" I said sarcastically.

Savannah didn't answer. She blinked.

* * *

I stepped off the jet and waved goodbye to the captain. He grinned and waved back. I could feel eyes on me and whispers, and I smiled at everyone so that each of them got a special smile and no one felt left out.

"OMG, Alicia, that's her!" I heard one girl whisper to her pretty friend.

"Yup," the other girl said, shaking back her head of messy curls.

I smiled at them and heard the first one squeal, and I walked by, grinning to myself. I loved fans. I wanted to get to know each and every one of them, but there wasn't enough time for that. So I contented myself with giving them smiles. I sighed. Sometimes being famous was exasperating.

I climbed into the cab to my hotel. Those two girls would have been a good Nudge and Ella. The first girl exactly fit the description of Ella, minus the squealing, and the second looked like a very mature Nudge who didn't know how to squeal. I grinned.

I couldn't wait to start my new role. Tomorrow we would start shooting _The Angel Experiment,_ and I would be Max. Max, from Maximum Ride, my all-time favorite series. I was so excited, I could barely contain myself from squealing. _No_, I instructed myself_. You are Max, not Nudge_. _No squealing_.

"Here, please," I told the cab driver, flashing him a smile and a wad of cash. He took it and I opened the door, immediately being bombarded with cameras. I smiled at them wearily. Cameras were the only things I had no patience for, so as a result my usual full-on smiles became half-grins, sort of resembling a smirk, which made me look a lot cooler and calm than I actually was.

"Candace! Over here!" one of the paparazzi shouted. I resisted glaring at him, because that would be mean, and then I would feel awful. Instead, I ignored him coolly and brushed past all of them to get to my hotel. In the hotel, the whispers started again, and I sighed. And then I smiled.

After an hour of paperwork, autographs, and cameras, I finally made it upstairs, turning on the lights and drawing the curtains so that no little creepers could look in. I crashed on the bed, thinking of the long day ahead of me.

I had no idea who would be playing Fang, Angel, Nudge, and Ella. Iggy would be playing by a guy called Alex Flair, and Gazzy would be played by the famous child actor Jake Hudson. Ari was going to be played by Nick Porter. I had no idea who he was, but he looked a lot like Josh Hutcherson. And I would be Max, I reminded myself. I was so excited I barely noticed the shadow on the wall.

Which wasn't mine.

But I noticed it.

Hey, I said I _barely_ noticed it. Not that I didn't notice it.

I just decided to let it slide because I was too happy to be bothered by creepy shadows.

* * *

I snapped the picture of the oldest girl as she fell asleep. She winced at the flash, but continued sleeping. I let out a sigh of relief and crept out of her window. Subject one down. Five more to go.

* * *

**Ooooh, scary.**

**Angel: *rolls eyes again***

**I'm really going to try this 'update-once-a-week' thing. Pleeeeeaaaaase return the favor and review?**

**Even if it's flames. 'Cuz flames are cozy in winter.**

**Fang: o.0**

**This week's question: what is you favorite MR cliche of aaaalll time? **

**R&R!**

**~Ami****


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, who's up for some round two of TAE for real?**

**Iggy: ME!**

**Me: Okay, this time you can actually say that, because you are not in this fic. Although you might show up later...**

**1 SQUEEE! alert:**

**The Mark of Athena came out yesterday! SQUEEE! I spent all last night reading it and then fell asleep in math class.**

**Ella: *shakes head***

**Anyways ...**

**Highlight of the day: My youngest sister trying to paint my other little sister Rosalie's bedsheets pink. Major twelve-year old screamfest on Rosalie's part. It was funny :)**

**Review answers (I've always dreamed of doing that):**

**BlackAngelWings1010: I like cookies. I have updated. Hand over the cookies. Lol. But seriously tho. Thou shalt PM me please?**

**ILOVEMEERKATS: Lol thanks. Btw, my friend said today that she wanted socks with meerkats. I thought of you :)**

**RedPenWriter13: You have also reviewed on my other story! And I PM'd you! WOW THIS IS SUCH A COINCIDENCE! :)**

**A: thanks ;) Reviews=more chapters**

** : Lol no it's not Justin, sorry. But I love that name tho. It's my brother's name :) And seriously I named one of my characters after you? AHAHAHAHAHAH THAT'S SO AWESOME**

**The Invisible Enchantress: Thank you. I need people like you to make me smile while I'm in Biology class.**

**Disclaimer: JP is not a teenage girl with red hair and a pet turtle. Done.**

**On wiz ze storri! (did that sound French? YAY!)**

* * *

Chapter 2: First scene

"Okay," Mommy said. "Now remember, Katie-Rose. Do exactly what the director tells you, okay?"

I nodded. She swooped down to kiss my cheek. "I love you!" she said, picking up her bag.

"I love you too, Mommy!" I shouted at her retreating figure.

I pranced down to the studio.

"Hi, I'm Katie-Rose," I said to a man standing in front of me.

"Oh, so you're the girl who is going to play Angel?"

I nodded emphatically. "Yup," I said proudly. Angel was blond, like me. Angel had blue eyes, like me. Me and her could be twins!

"Good," said the guy. "Here is your script."

_A script? Huh? What's a script? _I thought as I took it. I decided not to ask because then they would think I was little, even though Mommy and Rhia say that I'm big.

I flipped through the little book. Oh, so that's what a script was. It was the little book that tells you what to say. Mommy had called it the "line book."

"Well, Katie-Rose, you're a little early, so how about you get some ice cream and we'll sit down and talk while waiting for the others? That sound good?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed. I loved ice cream!

I licked my vanilla ice cream and the mister talked.

"So, Katie-Rose, I'm Mr. Jameson, your manager. In a couple of minutes, you are going to meet your assistant Sara Lynn. Your makeup and design team will help you get ready for the first scene of the movie." I struggled to comprehend all these hard words and nodded to show that I understood. "Good. Do you know what movie you're going to be in?"

I nodded proudly. "Yep, I'm going to be in _The Angel Experiment_. It's in a series called Maximum Ride, and it's my big sister Rhia's favorite series. I'm going to read it when I get big."

Mr. Jamieson smiled. "Great then. Oh, look, there's Candace. She's going to play your sister Max in the movie."

I get another big sister? Yay! I jumped out of my chair and ran to hug the girl.

"Hi big sister Candace-Max. I'm your little sister Katie-Rose-Angel," I told her.

The girl smiled. She was very pretty. She had wavy brown hair and big brown eyes with big eyelashes like a princess. She even had little diamond earrings like Cinderella.

"Hi, Katie-Rose," she said, kneeling down to hug me. "You're going to play Angel?"

"Yep," I said. "Except for my real name is Katie-Rose. And you're going to be my big sister Max, except for your name is Can—Candace," I stumbled over her name, trying to get it right.

"That's right," she said, tapping my nose. "You catch on quickly. How old are you, Katie-Rose?"

"Five and a half," I said, spreading my arms proudly. "Except for I'm so big they told me I could play a six-year old like Angel."

"That's great! You are big," Candace said. I was happy that she had noticed.

I hoped all of my other fake brothers and sisters turned out to be as nice as Candace-Max.

* * *

Savannah gripped my arm tightly as we walked into the studio. I gaped. It was huge, with a set of Max's bedroom, and lots of people rushing around. I saw the girl herself (well, Candace, not Max), hugging the most adorable little blond girl and whispering in her ear. Smiling, I let myself be dragged along by my best friend to the director.

"Hello," said a tall man with a beard. "I'm William Isaacs, but you can call me Bill." His blue eyes twinkled. "I assume you are Ella and Nudge? Savannah Stewart and Alicia Winters?"

"Yes," Savannah replied breathlessly. For once she had no words, and I smirked.

"Good, good. Alicia, your makeup artist and design team will be waiting for you in your dressing room." Savannah's surprised expression said what I was thinking. I got a dressing room? "You, Savannah, will not be shooting until Friday, but you are welcome to stay and watch."

"Thanks," 'Vannah said. She smiled at me and accompanied me to my dressing room. The minute Bill was gone, Savannah started her usual babbling.

"Oh my gosh, the director looks so nice! I can't believe you have your own dressing room, Alicia! I can't wait to see who plays the rest of the Flock. I think that little blond girl we saw before would make _the _perfect Angel. I can't believe we're actually going to work with Candace Freeman! I mean, I know my part is pretty small, but seriously, she's going to play my _sister_! I mean, we don't know it at the time, but all shall be revealed by the third book…"

"Shh, Savannah, you're ruining it for those who haven't read it yet."

Her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, I didn't mean to do that! I mean…" I kind of tuned her out as we turned the corner to my dressing room. It was hard to miss. I mean, it had a giant "ALICIA" hung on the door.

After meeting my design team, I blanked my mind so that I wouldn't protest when the started to doll me up. Closing my eyes, I let the transformation begin.

0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0

"So? What do you think?" said Serena, the head of my design team. She spun me around so I could see myself.  
"Oh my gosh, Alicia, you look so much like Nudge!" Savannah gushed.

I couldn't help but agree. They had dressed me up in pajamas: a white T-shirt and fuzzy pink pajama shorts. My hair had been messed up and floofed a bit for the sleeping effect, and makeup made me look tired. I remembered that my first scene was Nudge sleeping.

Savannah and I went into a big room where we were supposed to meet the other actors. Walking in, I noticed that almost all of the actors who were in this movie, whether they were shooting today or not, even extras, had come to see the beginning of the movie.

Bill walked to the front of the room and tapped his glass so that everyone looked away from each other and the refreshments and to him.

After a short speech about stuff that I wasn't really listening to, everyone started talking to each other. I felt a tug at my sleeve.  
"Hi," said the cute little blond girl from before, "I'm Katie-Rose, but I'm going to be Angel. Who are you?"

"Hi," I said, smiling. I knelt down. "I'm Alicia. I'm going to be Nudge, your sister."

"Yay! Another sister!" she squealed. I looked confusedly at her.

* * *

I rushed downstairs. Damn, I was late! I grabbed an energy bar on the way out. Not a substantial breakfast for the day I was about to have, but still. It was enough, because if you hadn't noticed, I was late. I ran past my mom, with a peck on the cheek and an "I love you mom!" and whizzed out the door. Running as fast as I could, I made it to the studio five minutes before I could officially be late.

I let the makeup people Fang-me up, and rushed at full speed into the meeting room, where no one had noticed my absence. I sighed in relief.

"Hi," said a pretty Hispanic girl. "I'm Savannah Stewart, I'm going to play Ella. You?" She reached to shake my hand.

"Marc Scott," I replied, shaking her hand. "Fang."

"Oh, you were in that movie _The Lie_, right? Nice to meet you."

I smiled at her. "Yeah. I was so excited to get this part, I love the books."

Savannah looked confused for a moment, probably wondering why I wasn't acting like Fang in my all-black attire. Then she smiled too. "Me too! Me and my friend Alicia were over the moon about this. We never would have thought!"

"Alicia? Who is she playing?"

"Nudge," she said. "She's over there." She pointed in the direction of a pretty African-American girl with big curls, looking tired and wearing pajamas. I was surprised before I remembered that Nudge's first scene was getting out of bed.

Walking over to her, I stuck out my hand.

"Hey, I said, "I'm Marc Scott. Going to play Fang. You?"

"She's Alicia," a little blond girl that I hadn't seen before answered for her. "She's going to be Nudge. I'm Katie-Rose, and I'm Angel."

Alicia shook my hand. "Well, you heard her." She laughed uncomfortably. Her voice was smooth and musical. I smiled at her, and crouched down next to Katie-Rose. "So, you're Angel, huh?"

"Yep," she said proudly. She was wearing a pink dress with a big pink hair bow. The last three buttons were undone, and I remembered that Max was supposed to do them up. Her big blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Cool. I'm going to be your big brother Fang."

"Yay! All the sisters and brothers!" she sang. I looked confusedly at Alicia, who shrugged helplessly. We both laughed, and I went off to see if I could spot any other members of The Flock.

"Hey," I said to a little boy that I vaguely remembered seeing in another movie, suspecting he would be Gazzy. He was wearing a blue shirt and khaki shorts.

"Hi," he said shyly. "I'm Jake. No, Gazzy," he corrected himself. I smiled.

"I'm Marc. Fang." I said, shaking his small hand.

He smiled, then it faded. "I don't know how I'm supposed to fart," he confided. I felt like laughing.

"Don't worry about that," I reassured him. "You can't actually _see_ it until the fifth book, and I'm sure they'll use sound effects." He calmed down and grinned.

"Have you met Alex and Candace yet? They're Max and Iggy. I think they're over there," he said, directing me to a boy and a girl around my age, sixteen.

"This is Fang," Jake said proudly. "No, Marc. No, Fang." He looked confused. "No, wait. This is Marc, guys, he'll be playing Fang," he started over. The other two looked like they were just as amused by him as me.

"Hey, I'm Alex Flair," the boy said, grinning at me. He had strawberry blond hair and light blue eyes, with contacts over them to make them look unseeing. His light blue hoodie matched them exactly.

"Candace," said the girl in the nightgown. "I'll be Max." I could see why they picked her as Max. She was gorgeous, with creamy skin and melting chocolate eyes and wavy golden-brown hair streaked with blond, but at the same time she looked like she and her delicate frame could take you down. She lacked a little of the confidence I expected Max to have, though. She looked distracted, and wasn't even looking at us. She kept glancing back at the punch table, as if it might reveal the answer to some important question on the meaning of life.

"Hellooooo," said Alex, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hmm? What? Oh, sorry," she excused herself, still sounding a bit troubled. "You're … Marc? Fang? Yeah. I remember now."

She glanced back at the punch table.

Alex shook his head and I was about to ask him what this was about, but they called us over for the first scene.

* * *

First scene. It was Candace's scene, the one where Max is running from the Erasers. She shook her shoulders back, and the scene began. We sat in the screening room, watching as they added effects and sounds to make it realistic, until it actually looked like Max was flying and the Erasers were half-wolves chasing her down.

"Cool, huh?" said Savannah, nudging me.

"Yup," I agreed. Savannah looked satisfied, because that was more than she usually got out of me.

I could see now why they had chosen Candace as Max. I'll admit that I'd had my doubts at first. Candace has played lots of roles, from a shy little sister to a loud, happy, carefree teen to a traumatized mental patient to a paralyzed tragedy heroine. But somehow I just couldn't picture her as Max. She kind of lacked some of the confidence I thought it took. I just didn't see her as a tough girl. She was too pretty, too delicate, too sensitive, too caring of other people's feelings. She didn't have the bite in her sarcastic comments that was always underscored in mine; as a matter of fact, I hadn't heard her make one single crack the way Max did. She kind of just smiled and laughed. A lot.

But that girl has got skill. When the first scene started, she looked on in complete fear as Nick Porter, Ari Batchelder himself, and his team of completely human humans drew nearer. They snarled and all of that, but before the effects, well, they just weren't that scary.

But Candace made it look like they were. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat; a look of pure terror settling in her wide brown eyes. Then, looking terrified, she started running at speed I hadn't believed her capable of. She kept glancing back fearfully, not caring that "the branches were tearing her arms to ribbons." (A direct quote from Maximum Ride. Savannah and I memorized the whole Angel Experiment and School's Out Forever. No, we are NOT geeks.) She skidded to the edge of an imaginary cliff, looking lost and almost defeated, as if she knew this was the end. Then, she seemed to remember something. She snarled at the "Erasers" with a terrifying death glare, and then leaped into the air. On our screen, majestic wings spread out behind her; she winced as if actually feeling the pain of the sudden unfurling. Then the wince was replaced by a look of pure wonder as Max took her first flight. She turned to give a mocking smile to the Erasers and sped off into the distance.

And the girl did this _without_ seeing the special effects added on our screen. To her, the Erasers were just Nick and a couple of extras; the cliff didn't exist, she had no wings. But she made it look so real. They only had to retake the scene once, because one of the extras started hacking.

That girl has _magic_ in her, I tell you.

I couldn't help rethinking about what I had thought about the rest of the flock; that I'd had my doubts too. Marc talked a bit too much to be Fang; Jake was too shy to be mischievous Gazzy. Alex was too serious for jokester Iggy. And as cute as Katie-Rose was, she was too bubbly and oblivious. Angel was adorable, but calmer and more knowing, and she had that whole creepy I-know-exactly-what-you're-thinking thing going on. Katie-Rose didn't really fit that.

I hoped that my expectations were as wrong as they had been with Candace.

I couldn't help thinking about that as they talked to the actors of the scene on some points, because Alex kept shooting me weird looks as if expecting me to burst into a long monologue or, even worse, into some Britney Spears song. I realized with a jolt that for the outsider, I must seem like a pretty pathetic Nudge. All the other characters had only trivial things wrong about their characters; mine was Nudge's defining trait: She talked. I didn't.

I was going to prove them _all_ wrong.

* * *

We watched Candace's scene from a waiting room. She was a phenomenal actress, everything seemed so _real_. During the retake, I observed the other people in the room.

There was Marc. Marc and I were becoming fast friends. We sat side by side, exchanging comments on the scene and other stuff. He was nice and funny, and really friendly. Had I not seen the guy act before I would have thought him a terrible Fang, but I knew from seeing him in movies that he pulled off the whole Mr. Emo-silent thing pretty well.

Then there was Katie-Rose. That girl was like cuteness incarnate, let me tell you. She literally walked on a cloud of happiness and infected everyone around her. She had blond curls, adorable dimples, and wide, blue eyes. Those eyes could get anyone to do anything for her.

Then there was Jake. Jake was a famous child actor who had never been the same after his parents' divorce. He had become quieter, shyer, and kept stumbling over his words when he wasn't reading from a script. I felt bad for the poor guy, and reached over to ruffle his blond hair. He grinned at me.  
After that was Savannah and Alicia. Sometimes I wondered if the roles had been inversed. Savannah was Ella; she was beautiful, with black waves that fell down to mid-back. But she talked as much as Nudge. Nudge, however, was Alicia. I didn't really like Alicia, but I didn't know why. She was also beautiful, with long, big brown curls, high, majestic cheekbones, black lash-rimmed brown eyes and full lips. But she _didn't _talk. At all. The two were best friends and balanced each other out, but I still wondered if there had been a mix-up with the parts. Marc had the friendly, laid back personality that I imagined with Ella. Alicia was so still and silent and alert that she could be Fang, and Savannah had a habit of randomly blurting out whatever was on her mind, like Nudge. If they hadn't resembled their characters so much physically, I would have had my doubts.

Candace was another story. She was stunning, but delicate. I felt like she could never be Max, but then we saw her on the screen, and that girl could _act_, man. Big time.

I wondered vaguely if I would make a good Iggy. Iggy was a jokester, but my jokes had faded away. They reminded me too much of my younger brother Finn, who had passed last spring. He had been blind, and I felt like the universe wanted to play a cruel joke on me by casting me as a blind boy. I mean, seriously. Come on.

Marc nudged me. "You okay?" He sounded concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. He didn't look reassured, but informed me that he would be right back and left the room.

With my only friend here gone, I got bored so I pondered on the meaning of life and when our lunch break was, even though it was seven in the morning. Seeing Savannah and Katie-Rose jump around made me even more tired. How could they be so pumped at these unearthly hours? I felt my eyelids droop as the several cups of coffee I'd had began to wear off. Oh goody.

* * *

Perfect. I snapped a shot of Subject Three, who was falling asleep. The progress was great. I had gotten a photo of Subject Two earlier in the morning, while he was distracted by Subject One. Grinning to myself, I hummed the song from the beginning of the movie softly before fading back into the shadows.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, there will be a mysterious somebody's POV every end of chapter. *insert maniacal laugh***

**Answer to last chapter's question: Hmm. Probably the whole Angel turning randomly diabolical thing. I mean, it's so cliche that even JP's doing it now. (BTW, you guys know that you're supposed to _answer_ these questions, right?)**

**Yes, to all those who have asked, I know I am doting on Alicia/Nudge and her indescribable beauty. And yes, there WILL be FAX.**

**So, now for Ami's random corner of advertising:**

**Each week I'm going to recommend a fanfic for you guys. (or two. Or three. or a whole lot.)**

**This week: **

**-Fix me, by kittiesrock90210. it's a bit dark, but an amazing story. Read it. Please. I beg of you.**

**-Dashing through MR, by TMI. Freaking hilarious.**

**-All is well in Cliche land, by ... someone ... (hehe)**

**Like I haven't heard that one before, by Violetfangs**

**I'm assuming most if not all of you have read Diary of a Lovesick Mutant. It's amazing, and SO. FUNNY.**

**A****nd for the twilight readers: **

**-With Chagrin, by Darth Atkid. It's sooooooo funny. Antelopes smell good.**

**Also, try searching "cliche" and specify Maximum Ride.**

**Me after this: o.0**

**You will get some weird results.**

**Lol. Anyways, I know I'm crazy and that this A/N is super long, but don't give up on me! By the way, what do you guys think of Angel/Katie-Rose POV? More? And I know I suck at Iggy/Alex POV but did you guys like it? Gazzy/Jake and Savannah/Ella POV coming up soon.**

**Sorry for my little Nudge-esque rant there. ****R&R! Love you all!**

**~Ami****


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, yes, before you comment, I ****_am_**** up at three in the morning. Again.**

***sighs* It's sad, really.**

**Angel: *radiates vibes of happiness***

**Me: YAY! Okay I'm not sad anymore.**

**Replies to comments:**

**ILOVEMEERKATS: ILYSM! Thanks for your support**

**RedPenWriter13: 1. EHMAGAWD the Mark of Athena was _sooooooooooooo _good! Read it! (Btw you have hunting knives? Cool!)**

**2. Another shout-out! YAY!**

**3. I know me too... but I know what happens so how does that make sense?**

**4. I know right? HILARIOUS!**

**5. Does anyone know what chiz is? please tell me if you do.**

**Wolf and MR lover: AHAAH I was actually planning on doing that! Great minds think alike!**

**The Invisible Enchantress: thanks sooooo much. I was afraid I was kinda failing at that.**

**Highlight of the day: My best friend tripping over her little sister and faceplanting in her dog. Funny stuff.**

**Disclaimer: JP is not in the middle of a sleepover with his BFF Olivia, so therefore I do not own Maximum Ride. Unless JP has a BFF named Olivia and he is currently having a sleepover with her. That would be creepy. Let's just assume not.**

* * *

_Chapter 3: _

_Part 1: Water-Fang-Los Vegas-_

Marc and Alex kept giving me weird looks as I glanced back at the punch table. But you would look back too, if you'd thought you'd seen a ghost. Or a living shadow. Or a demon. Something like that.

But I'd seen something, I knew. It was dark and seemed to melt away, but it was definitely _there_. In a moment of randomness, I wondered if it had something to do wit the creepy shadow I'd seen on my wall. In fact, I'd been getting the feeling that I was being followed all day. And it was not a pleasant feeling.

I brushed it off as we prepared for the first scene. They made my hair wild and tangled and matted with dirt and blood (no, not _real_ blood. Ew.)

I kind of just faded away as I acted. I was less and less Candace, more and more Max. It was a strange thing. I could see clearer and clearer into Max's mind, until I actually _became_ Max. Pretty weird. I could see her love of the Flock, her unintentional crush on her almost-brother Fang, her pride in little Angel. It was amazing.

I felt slightly dizzy as I stepped away from the set. I smiled vaguely.

I felt exhilarated. Acting gave you that rush, that, that _feeling_. I facepalmed. I really sucked at describing stuff.

Still, this was why I had gotten into the acting industry anyways. I didn't enjoy the fame, _hated_ the paparazzi—with a burning passion. Who wants to read about other people's lives? Yawn—and although it was nice to be looked up to, my hand would never be the same from signing that many autographs. But this feeling, as if you had just ran a race and won, or had just sprouted wings and taken your first flight, was worth all of it.

I was greeted by a bubbly Savannah (wow, surprising) and (this is actually surprising) a grinning Alicia.

"That was great, Candace!" Savannah exclaimed, smiling widely.

"That was phenomenal," Alicia agreed vehemently. My smile widened. I didn't think Alicia dished out compliments daily. I smiled at Savannah and gave Alicia a one-armed hug.

The other members of the "Flock" congratulated me as well, while I went to get a well-deserved drink.

"You're a great actress," said Marc, grinning at me. I jumped. I hadn't seen him there. He was leaning against the wall next to me, his hand in his pockets. Not for the first time, I noticed how good looking he was. _Oh God. Stop doing that, Candace, _I admonished myself.

"Will you _quit_ that?" He looked confused, and then smirked.

"Quit what? Breathing?"

"You know what," I protested, crossing my arms over my chest. We laughed. **(Anyone recognize that scene? Cookie for you if you did!)**

"So, where did you come from?" I asked.

"I was in the bathroom." He shrugged. "Where are you from?"

"You don't read the tabloids?" I asked, surprised.

"Why, should I know every detail about your life?" He grinned.

"No, it's just refreshing to meet someone who doesn't know everything about me." I paused and wrinkled my nose. "Well, that's a sentence you don't hear every day."

He laughed again. It was a nice sound.

"I come from California. San Fran," I said.

"Cool. I'm from Nevada."

"Los Vegas?"

"Do I really look that much like a gambler?" He asked in mock offense. I laughed.

I didn't feel conscious that I was in a nightgown in front of a boy I'd just met. In fact, Marc was so open and friendly, he made anyone feel as if they'd known him forever. Even little Jake opened up to him. We chatted as we walked down the hall, exchanging stories from home and making stupid jokes. I saw Savannah whisper something into Alicia's ear as we walked in together. The latter rolled her eyes and muttered a short sentence back.

Call me unobservant, but it had taken me a while to realize that these were the two best friends I had seen in the airport. The former was always radiating happiness and enthusiasm, and the latter was silent and calm, and a sarcastic undertone lay in all of her words, intended or not. It wasn't that she was shy or mean. She just chose not to talk, as if words weren't worthy of her time, and I think the sarcasm thing was just a reflex. At first, I'd thought she had a speech problem, like a lisp or a stutter or something, but her voice was clear, smooth and musical, and she spoke without a flaw. She just didn't say anything because she didn't feel like it. I honestly thought she was a little too perfect to play Nudge, but of course I didn't tell anyone that.

"Ella's" voice, though, was always there, some sort of background music that people realized was normal after a few minutes. I was excited to get to know her; she seemed so friendly and fun. She was like a little ray of sunshine. She had long black hair that fell in waves down her back and brown eyes that sparkled as she talked. She used her hands a lot while she talked. Savannah was really expressive, and if you took the time to listen to what she was saying, you'd be surprised. She was actually very smart and her squealing hid a lot of intelligence. She was just so happy that she made you smile, like Katie-Rose.

The girl in question collided with my leg and wrapped herself around it in a hug.

"Hi, Katie-Rose," I said, smiling. Marc smiled too and scooped her up, twirling her. Katie-Rose shrieked and laughed, flapping her arms as if flying.

That girl was just too cute. Why was she so cute? I floofed her hair as Marc set her down.

"Marc is my big brother too! We're a family!" It was a chant she'd been repeating all morning. ("Alex is my brother! Alicia is my sister! Jake is my brother! Candace is my sister! Marc is my brother! We're a family! Lalalalalaaa!") Marc grinned down at her.

"Sure are," he said, floofing her hair some more. Katie-Rose now looked like she had bedhead. I smoothed out her curls and she smiled a heart-melting smile at me.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered in my ear as I carried her to the next set.

"Sure," I said, smiling conspiratorially.

"I like you best," she admitted in a whisper, then buried her face in my shoulder. I could feel her smile against my nightgown.

"Don't worry," I said, "Me too."

* * *

Candace was the most amazing actress ever. Even Alicia's eyes were wide with wonder as we watched her on the screen.

"Cool, huh?" I asked her, nudging her.

"Yup," she agreed, wide-eyed. I was satisfied, because that was more than I usually got out of her. Yes, a one-word sentence. But hey, it was better than nothing.

I knew that Candace, Marc, Alex, Alicia, Jake and Katie-Rose had all had separate meeting with the director to work on their characters and parts. But I wasn't expecting all of this awesomeness. In fact, Candace was so amazing that they only had to take the scene twice, because some stupid _Eraser_ kept hacking up a hairball.

It didn't matter, though. As soon as she was out, we all raced to her to congratulate her.

"That was great, Candace!" I exclaimed.

"That was phenomenal," Alicia agreed vehemently. She wasn't one to dish out compliments daily, so it proved that Candace was something special.

She beamed at me. "Thanks!" She gave Alicia a one-armed hug, clutching Katie-Rose's hand in the other.

I couldn't help feeling a little sad. Alicia was my best friend, and I knew she was going to try to include me as much as possible, but she was part of the Flock in the movie, and she would get a lot closer to the actors than I would. I was good at making friends, but she would be spending a lot more time with them than me, because as much as I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to stay there every day of the filming, and I would never truly be part of the Flock. I felt like Ella in "Angel," wanting to get wings so that she could truly fit in with the flock. And plus, as silent as Mrs. Fang was, she had an indefinable quality that drew people to her like flies to amber; but unlike the amber she didn't trap them, they just chose to stay there.

I sighed. But I wouldn't let that get me down.

"So, do you think there's anything going on between Candace and Marc?" I whispered to Alicia, seeing them walk into the room together.  
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "I doubt it," she said, "that's just in the book. Movie. In the Angel Experiment, I mean." She looked annoyed that she had exceeded her normal amount of words.

I stifled a giggle and nodded. "Probably." Seeing Alex, I ushered him over.  
"Hey, Alex!" I said.

"Hey. What's up?"

We chatted for a few minutes. He was _so_ cute. He smiled a lot, and his eyes, without the contacts, were icy blue, the same color of his sweatshirt. He kept shooting weird glances at Alicia, though. My heart sank a little as I wondered if he liked her. That would be really annoying. Why did half of the guys I liked fall for her instead?

"You're in the next scene. Excited?" I asked, hiding my discomfort. He raised one shoulder and dropped it.

"Sure," he said. I was taken aback by his lack of enthusiasm. Shouldn't he be more excited?

"Yeah, because you sound _sooo_ excited," Alicia said. Alex glared at her.

I decided to let it go and instead we just talked aimlessly. Every time Alicia made a sarcastic comment, he gave her this _look_, like, _what the hell?_ I didn't know what his problem with her was, or whether it was a crush. It was annoying.

They called the "Flock" over for makeup and whatnot as they flipped the set around so that it was the side with Max's bedroom. I sighed as Alicia and Alex went off together, each of them steering as far apart from each other as possible, each of them giving each other weird little looks. Sigh.

* * *

I think the real reason Dad wasn't around was because of me. Before the divorce, he'd always been happy about my acting, but after he said that I shouldn't do it, that it would ruin my childhood. Mom and Dad used to fight a lot about that. Then Dad left. It was horrible.

I shook all the bad thoughts out of my head as I made my way to the set. My therapist said that bad thoughts led to bad actions. I didn't want it to affect my acting.

My "big sister," Candace, was already on the set. She was really nice. I fixed my thoughts to "sleepy" mode and yawned. My eyes were closing despite myself. I shuffled into the set of the kitchen.

"Mornin' Max," I said sleepily, plopping down into an empty kitchen chair.

"Morning, Gazzy." She smiled at me, kissing the top of my head and rubbing my back just the way I liked it, between my wings. My heart swelled. I loved my big sister so much.

"What's for breakfast?" I was really hungry. I hoped Max made good breakfast.

"Um, it's a surprise." I wondered if that meant that it was actually a surprise or if we just didn't have any more non-cook food that she could make. "I'll pour juice," I decided.

Iggy trooped down the stairs. He flopped onto the couch.

"Hey, Ig, rise and shine," she said.

"Bite me," Iggy said sleepily.

"Fine," said Max, "Miss breakfast." She peeked into a cabinet, scrutinizing it for food.

Instantly Iggy was up.

"I'll make eggs," he decided. He was smart. He couldn't let Max burn down the kitchen, after all.

I liked Iggy, I knew. I knew looked up to him. Suddenly, Iggy became the most awesome big brother in my eyes. Wow. He was so cool.

I saw Fang, my other awesome big brother, come down the stairs. He put a finger over his mouth to let me know not to say anything. I giggled. He loved to scare Max.  
He crept behind her, leaning against the counter as she looked hopefully into the fridge. Then she spun around.

"Will you _quit_ that?"

"Quit what?" he asked calmly. "Breathing?"

Then both of them burst into laughter.

"Cut!" screamed a voice.

The entire kitchen disappeared. Iggy and Fang and Max were gone. Only a set of some kitchen and Candace and Marc and Alex remained.

I was confused. Where had my Flock gone? Where were my wings? Why was Fang laughing hysterically, Fang, who rarely laughed?

Then I realized that I had been acting. I was submerged in my own little world. I shook my head to remind myself that I didn't actually have wings.

Acting did that to me. I grinned.

* * *

"Cut!" yelled Bill. I was still doubled over in laughter. Candace slumped against the wall, her shoulders shaking. Her laughter was clear and ringing, like a bell. I knew she was thinking about what had happened at the water fountain a few minutes before. It hadn't seemed that funny then, but when you were in the heat and concentration of the moment it seemed like the most hilarious thing in the world.

"What happened, guys?" asked Bill from his chair.

"Marc—water fountain—Fang," she said incoherently between laughter.

"What?" murmured an assistant.

"Candace—water—breathing—scene—Los Vegas," I attempted to explain with no better success. Now the assistant seemed even more confused.

Bill, who was used to seeing actors crack up on set randomly, just called order and we started the scene over again.

Instantly, I was in Fang mode. No talking. NO laughing. I straightened, walking in at my cue.

"Will you _quit_ that?"

"Quit what?" I said, regarding Candace, no, _Max_, calmly. "Breathing?"

"You know what," she said, rolling her eyes. We both struggled to keep straight faces.

"I'll make eggs," Alex, no, _Iggy_, announced randomly, rolling off the couch. He got up. I don't know how that guy managed to look so _blind_, yet handle himself so agilely.

"Fang? You set the table. I'll go get Nudge and Angel." Candace, no, _MAX_¸ started up the stairs to wake up my little "sisters."

I absentmindedly set the table, thinking of my "Flock." I'd known them for about three hours, but we already felt close. Alex was funny and friendly, though he seemed to sadden at times for no reason. I didn't question it though. He was my best friend on set so far. Alicia, though silent and sarcastic, was surprisingly sweet and affable, with her wild curls and dimpled smile. Jake and his blond cowlick were cute and eager to please, and Katie-Rose was the personification of adorableness itself. Candace was beautiful and powerful, and I had no doubts about her after I'd seen, like, twenty seconds of the first scene. She just about _radiated _confidence.

"I want to go pick berries today," said Katie-Rose as Angel said. I was shocked. Where had the confident, bouncy, bubbly five-year old I'd known this morning gone? She had been stretching herself up, acting as tall as she could. She was now a cute but calmer six-year old, innocent and small. She scooped a forkful of scrambled eggs that someone had brought onto the set, because Alex, unlike Iggy, had _no_ cooking talent whatsoever. "They're ripe now."

"Okay, Angel, I'll go with you," said Jake/the Gasman. He had also changed. He was no longer shy, but mischievous and happy.

Then he pushed his chair back. That was our cue to start coughing as if he had just unleashed his, um, special skill.

"Oh , jeez, Gazzy," coughed Candace/Max, wrinkling her nose.

"Gas…mask!" Alex/Iggy choked out. He clutched his neck as if suffocating. He had become more joking, happier, which was a side of his personality that I believed he had but was just afraid to show.

"I'm _done_," I said in disgust, putting my plate in the sink.

"Sorry," said the Gasman/Jake, sounding not at all sorry. Wow, I really need to stop referring to them as both their characters and their names.

"Yeah, Angel, I'm sure the _fresh air _would do us all good," said Alicia, staring pointedly at Jake. Alicia had changed from a quiet, shrugging, fourteen-year old girl to an eleven-year old motormouth whose eyes sparkled with excitement. Her smooth voice became higher and clearer and now ringed with that shrill excitement that only a pre-teen mutant birdkid could have. "I'll come too."

"We'll all go," announced Candace, getting up. She grabbed a bucket near the door and we all headed out of the door.

* * *

_Part 2: Iggy/Alex+Alicia/Nudge= Best friends for Never_

"And that's a wrap!" yelled Bill. "Candace, Marc, Alex, Alicia, Jake and Katie-Rose, you're free to go for now. I've got some work to do with the Erasers. Grab a snack, get some rest. Be back by four for the four-thirty combat lesson. We'll do the fight scene tomorrow."

"Cool," said Candace, as if that decided it for all of us. Alicia jumped from the set and bounded off in a very un-Alicia-like way to find her best friend, whose name I think was Suzanne or Susannah or Savannah or something. Alex shook his hair out and removed his contacts, grimacing. He stuck them in a case and put them in his pocket.

"Good job, bro," I said, slapping him a high-five. He grinned.

"You too, man. Why did you guys crack up in the middle, by the way?"

"Oh, um, just…stuff," I said lamely. He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Hmm, only three hours and you two already have secrets? Interesting," he teased, grinning suggestively. His grin immediately turned to a scowl as he saw Alicia meet up with her friend and her friend squealing excitedly.  
"You don't like her?" I asked.

"Who? Savannah? No, no, no, Savannah's great." Great? I raised an eyebrow, and he blushed. Hmm, maybe the Eggy was blooming a little early in _this_ story. I didn't blame him; the girl was beautiful and radiated happiness, something that Alex seemed to like. I was about to comment on that when he opened his mouth again.

"It's Alicia I don't like."  
Alicia? Friendly, quiet Alicia? Why would he have a problem with her? It was like having a problem with Katie-Rose; you just _didn't_.

"Alicia? Why?"

"I don't know, she just…_irritates_ me," he said, trying to explain, frustrated. "In what way?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know," he repeated. "She's just so smug, like she's better than everyone. She doesn't talk, like no one's worthy of her time. She doesn't answer questions when you ask them and everything she says is laced with sarcasm. And I feel like she hates me. At least she's courteous to other people, if you can even say that. To me, she spits snide comments like a snake. She is the Queen of Snarky remarks, I tell you!" Alex looked mad.

Were we talking about the same girl here? The Alicia _I_ saw and I was sure everyone else saw was polite and friendly. Sure, she didn't say much, but neither did Jake, and Alex didn't seem to have a problem with _him_. Alicia had this quality that just made people like her; maybe it was the way she grinned whenever she found something funny, with the dimple in her left cheek, as if no one else could see her smile. Maybe it was the way she gave people looks instead of talking, like when she suspected something; she gave them suggestive half-smiles and cocked an eyebrow, like _I know you're hiding something_. And her expressive eyes said everything for her, it was as if she didn't _need_ to talk. She had this aura that just made you want to tell her stuff, and everyone on set felt like her best friend even though we'd only met a couple of hours ago. Except Alex.

I'd realized that Alex's voice had progressively risen, until everyone was silent and staring at us, or rather him.

Alicia looked at him, wide-eyed, shocked. She looked positively stunned that he thought of her like that. She was quiet as everyone looked between him and her. I thought I saw tears swim in her brown eyes, and then she marched over to Alex.

_Uh oh_, I thought. _This is bad for Alex. She looks like she could take him down right now_.

I'd thought she was going to start crying and probably shout at Alex and break down in tears, but apparently she wasn't like that.

"What the _hell_ is your problem?" she snarled at Alex, shoving him. "If you have a problem with me, you come tell me, not gossip like some thirteen-year-old!" She grabbed his shirt and despite her being several inches smaller than Alex, I actually feared for him.

"You're such an asshole," she roared, pushing him against the wall. "I am _not_ like that! Stop making stories, just because you've got some petty little problem with me that you don't want to say, because you'll sound like a wimp! Get a life, stop insulting girls two years younger than you! Can you just pick on someone your own size? Oh, wait, you can't because they'll probably _take you down_ like _I'm_ about to do!" She slammed him against the wall, hard, fury turning her eyes amber.

Oh. Wow. Note to self: Never make Alicia mad.

A gentleman never hits a girl. But Alex was no gentleman, so he pushed her back.

"I am not a wimp!" he yelled. "You just need to stop acting like the Ice Queen! You need a personality! Oh, wait, you already have one: being a bitch!"

Alicia gasped, fury blazing in her eyes. Alex took a step back.

"Never. Call. Me. A. Bitch," she hissed. She swung her hand back and slapped him across the face, leaving a red mark.

"You need to get over yourself," she instructed while he clutched his throbbing cheek. "Get a life. Be a man. And never insult a girl. Or this might happen."

She promptly kneed him in the groin.

"And yes, now I do hate you," she growled into his ear as he doubled over in pain, and then stormed off set.

Great. This movie was starting just great.

* * *

The fury in Subject Four's eyes scared even _me_. I needed to warn the boss about this one. She might fight back. But I knew we could overcome her, so I went pack to the present task of documenting the subjects.

I'd snapped a picture of her while happily acting; now I snapped another of her, suspecting that this was what she would look like when we captured her. She would be a tough one, but they all were, and in the end we always won.

"We're coming for you," I whispered, knowing they couldn't hear me, and melted into the looming shadow hanging over the shocked faces of those on set.

* * *

**A/N: AAAAAAHHHH creepy person POV ITS SO SCARY HELP ME ANGEL!**

**Angel: *pats shoulder* there, there. *thinks: wow. getting comforted by the six-year old. way to go.***

**Iggy: I promise that I will show up soon! Just hang in!**

**So, what did y'all think of my other characters POV? did you notice the pre-fax? Hmmmmmmmm?**

**Angel: *rolls eyes***

**Me: AAHH! STOP DOING THAT!**

**Angel: *rolls eyes again***

**Nudge: *giggles***

**What would you say if I turned the Eggy into Niggy? Leave your flames and comments.**

**And now, for ****Ami's random corner of advertising:**

**This week: Amazing cliches, by...something. Hilarious at first. It's a series of oneshots, so you don't have to read the whole thing. You should though. It's worth it.**

**Oh, and Locked In, by Like. Wait. WHAT. so funny.**

**Oh yeah, and check out RedPenWriter13's story if you've read twilight. Then pressure her into adding more chapters. It's that good.**

**P.S. READ AND REVIEW! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! **

**~Ami****


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I'm so sorry I haven't updated. It takes me a really, really long time to write these, and I have exams going on and everything.**

**Sorry!**

**Also, I'm pissed because I look nothing like the rest of my family. Nothing.**

******And the guy behind the counter at the Coffee Bean thought it was okay to hit on me in front of my mom, since we don't even look related.**

**Boy, was he surprised.**

**And then he had the nerve to ask her of she was my stepmom.**

**FML.**

**So, anyways, I realize that my long A/Ns are scaring off a lot of people, so feel free to skip right to the review button. I mean, story.**

* * *

I stormed off the set before anyone could see the tears glistening in my eyes. Sure, I put up a tough front, but Alex's words had really hurt me, more than I'd like to admit. How was I ignoring him? He'd become friends with Candace and Marc, and when I'd tried to join their group he'd completely cut me off. Even though he obviously had a problem with me, I'd been okay with him until he'd started shooting me these weird looks whenever I opened my mouth. After that, he made it clear he disliked me. I was okay with that too; I knew we'd eventually become friends, because it was impossible to pretend to be siblings without growing closer in real life.

And then he just _had_ to bitch about me—loudly—to Marc.

Suddenly, I realized I had a whole lot of problems with Alex too.

He was too quiet, then too forced. He was too easy with people, a talent that made me suspect he was hiding something. And the way he unconsciously ruffled his hair in the back really, really annoyed me, I didn't know why. And why—WHY—did he have to look so cute when he was insulting me? It's so much easier to yell at someone when they're not so distracting.

I burst into my changing room and flopped down in front of the vanity mirror. Hurt and angry, I put my head down in my arms and started to cry. I didn't know why I was getting so upset over this. Probably because no one had ever insulted me that way before. Probably because I had never been called a bitch before. Probably because I'd known this stupid idiot for barely three hours and he was already bitching about me loud enough for me to hear. Stupid.

I started wondering if there had been any truth to his words. Was I really that sarcastic? Was I really as mean as he portrayed me? Had I really snubbed him? Huh. Maybe that was my wakeup call to start shaping up.

But still. Stupid jerk.

"Alicia!" Savannah burst through the door. She knelt down next to me and cradled me in her arms. "Oh 'Leece, I know it's bad. Don't cry." Her voice had a soothing ring to it. I buried my face in her shoulder.

"Why?" I asked, sobbing.

"I don't know," Savannah said. "I don't know. He's just a jerk." She shh-ed me and patted my back.

"No," I tried to explain. "Why am I crying over a loser I met three hours ago?"  
Savannah laughed. I glared at her.

"You're just too funny, Alicia," she said, her shoulders shaking. "Here I was thinking you were crying about what he said, and you're just mad at yourself for being hurt by it!"  
"Yeah, and?" I said, glaring.

"He called you a bitch. You have a right to be hurt. I would be hurt."

"Yeah, but you're a—" Savannah gave me a look, and I stopped myself from saying "cream puff."

"The point is, Alicia, it's okay to be a little hurt by him. I don't know what I ever saw in him." She sounded disgusted with herself.

"You had a crush on him?" I gaped at her and then I started laughing myself.

"What?" she said, blushing. "He's cute!"

"True," I agreed. "He does have nice eyes."

"Yeah." She got a faraway look in her eyes. Then she shook herself as if remembering what had happened a few minutes ago.

"Aww, Alicia, your makeup is all smudged. Let's go clean you up," she said, linking her arm through mine.

"'Kay," I said. We got up.

"And 'Vannah?" I started as we were about to leave.

"Yeah?"

"You're a good friend."

She smiled and we walked out, arms linked.

* * *

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

A chant rang through my head as I replayed the last few minutes in my head. Why had I been so stupid? Why did I have to go do that? I'd seen the hurt flash through Alicia's eyes. Why hadn't I stopped?

Marc sat next to me, cheering me up. He distracted me with little things and made bad jokes that normally would have cracked me up. But I remained miserable. Why did he stick with me, when I had just ripped out my dignity and stomped on it? I didn't deserve a friend like him.

"You know, it's okay," Marc said abruptly.

"Huh?"  
"Alicia's resilient. She wouldn't let your words get to her, even if you didn't mean it. I know you didn't mean it."

_Did too_, I thought. But had I? I mean, was she really that awful?

I knew the answer was no. Alicia hadn't been snubbing me or anything. In fact, this morning when she had tried to make conversation, I'd completely shut her out. It wasn't like she'd gone out of her way to talk to me, but I was just exaggerating. It wasn't like she was mute, either. Maybe she just didn't like to talk. As for the sarcasm, I had nothing to say. I had once been dubbed the King of Sarcasm.

Maybe I just didn't want to face the stupid, silly truth: that I was scared of her stealing my friends. I know it's stupid, but I had gotten to know Candace and Marc better, and the three of us formed a tight group comprised of the older members of the Flock. Over the morning we had joked together, told each other embarrassing stories, and had coffee together, courtesy of Marc's wallet, or rather, his older sister's (she didn't know, don't tell her). Alicia was just too perfect and too easy with people. I had already lost enough people in my life, I didn't need some pretty girl stealing friends that I thought promised to be true. I had been a secondary character in the movie "Get Up," and all of my friends had promised to keep in touch. Now? I saw Peter Lamburghi at a party last month, and he didn't say a word to me. Talk about friends.

And the worst part was how damn cute she looked when she was shouting at me. I've never seen anyone's eyes turn gold with anger before. They were hypnotizing.

This movie hadn't even been on for a day, and I was already ready to call it quits.

"Thanks, man," I said. I didn't say anything else as we walked to the lounge.

Then a hand landed on my chest, stopping me.

I looked down to see Candace—Candace, of all people—glaring at me.

"Okay, Alex," she said before I could say anything, "You two are going to make nice soon enough, because I will not tolerate to see Alicia cry over you being a jerk and I will not see you doubling over for the umpteenth time because she kicked you in the balls. So make nice. NOW."

Why are all the girls here turning out to be scary?

* * *

I don't know what I ever saw in that jerk. He was arrogant, mean, and probably didn't even know what my name was. But those eyes…those eyes were enough to make any girl cave. Not like Marc's, which were dark and melty, but light and clear and honest, and the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen.

But he'd insulted my best friend/sister. That made him a mortal enemy.

It was only nine in the morning, but I'd already had my fill of set drama. If not for Alicia, I probably would have gone home already. Oh, and the fact that Candace Freeman—_the_ Candace Freeman—was here. And a cute wad of adorableness otherwise known as Katie-Rose Richards.

I flopped down in a chair. Playing back the footage, the crew had noticed a light that kept flickering in the background, and the scene had to be retaken. On the screen, I saw Alicia and Alex acting perfectly nice to each other, as if nothing had happened. I knew that in real life, Alex would be kneeling on the floor right now and Alicia would be glaring at him mercilessly. I had a lion for a best friend.

Then Alex did his choking thing, and Alicia started laughing. Then Alex started laughing. Then they were both laughing, and Alicia fell off her chair, which made them laugh harder. Then they had to cut the scene.

"Guys, guys, what's going on here?" Bill yelled. Alicia and Alex stopped laughing, and exchanged a few words I couldn't hear.

They retook the scene, and gave us leave of the day, reminding us, or rather, the "Flock," to be back by four for their combat lesson with the "Erasers."

Katie-Rose happily skipped off the set, followed by Jake. Candace and Marc went off somewhere together, and Ismiled. I think that there was something they weren't telling us. The last two off the set were Alex and Alicia, who went off together, chatting—

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. Alex and Alicia? _Chatting_? Was my brain going haywire or something?

* * *

"Yeah, I'm actually from Arizona," Alicia said.

"And Savannah too?" I asked, referring to the gorgeous girl I had seen her with before.

"Yup. We're best friends."

It was nine-thirty. How had so much happened in the span of four hours? I'd made two friends, acquired two cute blond foster siblings, met a really pretty girl, and had a showdown with another girl who later became my friend.

Wow. That was a weird sentence.

Anyways, somehow we'd put our morning argument behind us, and actually talked. We'd cracked up on set, and somehow that just fit everything into place where it should be. Finally, the Flock was acting like the functional family it was supposed to be.

"I'm from Minnesota," I said. She laughed. "How is that funny?" I said, indignant.

"I just assumed you were from California," she teased. "What with the tan and all."

"Hey, it's not my fault I burn in the sun. You're lucky. You don't even need a tan."

"Yup," she said. "So, where are Candace and Marc?"

"Probably off making out somewhere," I said. She frowned.

"You don't think they're actually, um, like _that_, do you?"

I laughed. Alicia was obviously not the most observant person.

"Dude, it's so obvious they've got massive crushes on each other. Marc was staring at Candace for like, a full five minutes."

"Huh." She paused. "So 'Vans wasn't just being paranoid,"she muttered almost to herself.

I decided not to put our fragile new friendship on the line by asking who Vans was, why they had such a ridiculous name, and if it was her imaginary friend or just the voice in her head, all things I would have normally done if I wasn't so afraid she was going to turn into a rabid cat and kick me in the balls again.

We stood there in silence for a few moments, then Jake came bounding up to us.  
"Hi, guys! Candace says we're all going for cookies and milk! Come on!"

I didn't know what had gotten into that kid, but he was bouncier than a bouncy castle now. Alicia looked at me, shrugged, and we followed Jake to the lobby of the building.

"Hey," said Marc, waving at us from next to Candace. Candace glared daggers at Alicia and I, but then her look turned confused as she saw us walking side by side, smiling. She looked puzzledly at Marc, who shrugged. Savannah scowled.

That girl was beautiful. Her hair was so shiny that I wanted to reach out and touch her black waves. I quickly moved so that we were next to each other, and her frown turned into a grin. Then she scowled again. I looked around confusedly to see if anyone knew what was going on, and I saw Alicia making a few quick finger motions. She nodded, and Savannah relaxed and looked like she was about to explode with happiness. She smiled at me again, and I dumbly returned the smile. What was going on? What was it with the fingers? Was Savannah deaf of something? No, that wasn't possible. She talked more than Nudge was supposed to.

Seeing my face, Savannah laughed. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

Katie Rose, clinging to Candace's leg, widened her eyes, and then looked at Jake. Jake, oblivious, was holding Marc's hand and chattering excitedly to him, all his previous shyness gone. Candace looked between me and Alicia, between Alicia and Savannah, and then between Savannah and me. Then she smiled and threw a wink in my direction.

And all of this happened in about the span of three seconds.

Why were these people so weird?

And, in a particular case, so pretty?

* * *

I wanted to throw something, seeing Alicia and Alex side by side, talking and laughing and looking nervous. Did they like each other? Were they going out? No, that was stupid. They hated each other. Or did they? Then why was Alicia's voice in that melodic tone she used to talk to cute boys? And why was Alex looking all nervous? I wanted to scream, and I scowled at them. Why did my Alicia have to be so gorgeous? And why did I have a stupid crush on a stupid guy who obviously liked my stupid best friend?

I gasped inwardly. No, no, no, erase that. Does not compute. Alicia was like my sister. I'd never felt anything but love for her. Not even a smidgen of jealousy. How could I, when she was best friends with _me_, of all people? Not Alison or Tessa or Kayla? No. Alicia was far from stupid.

I shook all the nasty thoughts out of my head and smiled at Alex. Ah! No! No smiling at Alex! I shook my head, but he had already come to stand next to me, and was looking at me with—oh, no. The hope was already bubbling in my chest. I tried to drown it out by scowling at Alex again. Then I heard a cough. Not just a cough, but a specific cough that Alicia and I had rehearsed so that we knew when one wanted the other's attention in public without saying it. I looked over to her, and she curled her finger in. _No more_. It was like the Savannah/Alicia sign language. Then she jabbed her finger down quickly. _Angry_. I registered that._ No more angry_. So they weren't mad at each other anymore? Did that mean I could have Alex? If Alicia didn't like him, of course. I hoped to high heaven that she didn't. She swirled her finger around._ All clear._ She discreetly pointed at Alex, and then quickly drew her finger back into her palm._ Keep him._

YES! I was about to explode with happiness. I smiled a huge smile to Alex, who returned it before looking around confusedly, probably wondering about the random Alicia/finger thing, which was so lightning fast that only I would be able to see it. I laughed at his expression, and he smiled at me.

My heart swelled.

* * *

Savannah smiled at Alex, and I looked between him and Alicia, then between her and her friend, then between Savannah and Alex.

So they had already made up? Without any prodding from me?

I had to hand it to them.

I saw Alex grinning stupidly at Savannah, and I shot him a wink. _You go get 'em, tiger._ I wondered how long it would take before they got together. Not long, I hoped. It was too cute.

"So, are we going for milk and cookies?" Jake asked. That kid was too cute. I ruffled his hair and bent down.

"Yep," I said. "Something like that." Jake smiled. I stood up.

"'Kay, guys, we've got a couple of hours, so do you all want to go for coffee?"

"Sure," said Alex. He kept stealing glances at Savannah. I felt like snorting. Obvious much? But that would be mean, so I didn't.

"Cool, let's go then," said Marc. He scooped up Katie-Rose and whizzed her out of the door. She giggled and shrieked happily.

That was just the most heart-warming thing I'd ever seen. Marc was throwing Katie-Rose up in the air, and she was laughing. The sun turned her butter-yellow hair golden, and it reflected off of Marc's black hair and his muscles—

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop thinking like that, Candace. _But he's really hot, _a voice somewhere in the back of my consciousness said.

_Yeah, but I have no shame in admitting that my older brother is hot, and you don't see me ogling after him._

_That's 'cause he's your bro and that would be gross._

_Ugh! Still._

I shook my head from silly thoughts and grabbed Jake's hand. This kid was so cute it hurt. I just had to hug him. Surprised, he threw his arms around me too and I swung him around. Putting him down, we headed out of the lobby to Starbucks.

I left Alex and Savannah some space and called Alicia over, while Jake ran off to play with Katie-Rose. Those two kids already acted like siblings, though they'd known each other for, like, five minutes. I guess that was just the way it was with kids.

"Hey," I said to Alicia.

"Hey," she said back, grinning. See? That was why I liked this girl. She didn't let stuff get to her.

"So, Alex and Savannah, huh?" I said, wiggling my eyebrows like Iggy would do. She laughed.

"Oh, my God, don't do that, you sound like Iggy," she snorted. Lowering her voice an octave, she said, "It's okay, I know you love me. All the ladies do." She sported a goofy smile.

I giggled. "How do you do that?"

She sniggered. Continuing in the same voice, she said slyly, "that's what she said."

I smacked her arm, cracking up. "That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Does Iggy ever make any sense?"

"Not really," I admitted. "So, did you guys take a plane to get here?"

"Yup," she said. "Savannah was bouncing the whole way."

"Doesn't she always?"

"Huh." Alicia paused. "She, does, come to think of it."

"You hadn't noticed?" I was incredulous. How could you be around this girl for five seconds and not notice that?

"Well, I grew up with her. I kind of spent the first six years of my life thinking that was normal human behavior."

I laughed so hard that I fell into her and we both went sprawling on the pavement.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed, pulling her up. She snorted with laughter and let herself be pulled up. She was a lot heavier than I expected. I struggled with her, and finally I gave up.

"Get up yourself," I huffed. She just laughed and held out her arms.

"Mommy! Up!"

"No, Alicia! You didn't use the potty today! No up!"

People were staring at us as we cracked up. Then out of nowhere strong arms lifted me up from behind.

"Ahh! Marc, stop!" I kicked my legs up in the air and tried in vain to wriggle out of his arms.

"No, Candy," he said, using a voice that could be used to lecture a little kid, but hid a lot of undetected laughter. "You didn't eat your Cheerios this morning."

Agh! Why was his voice making me all light-headed?

"But Candy wanna get down," I explained patiently to him. His eyes shined with suppressed laughter.

"Well, you need to eat a proper breakfast! None of these energy bars! If you want to be big, you've got to eat Cheerios!"

We both laughed, not because it was that funny (Well, it was,) but because we both knew that the most breakfast we'd had in days was, at the very most, half an energy bar.

Alicia grabbed Marc's arm and heaved herself up. Because he was all strong and stuff, he didn't fall down, and Alicia brushed herself off and flashed a dazzling smile to the people looking at us like we were extraterrestrials.

"Movie filming in half an hour," she lied in honey tones. "We're rehearsing our parts." Marc and I immediately stopped laughing and nodded soberly (hey, we're actors. We can do stuff like that.). As usual, the people were charmed by Alicia's voice, and they all nodded like it was actually believable. Right. I saw the thirteen-or-something year old boy look repeatedly back in her direction as they walked away. Alicia flashed him a flirtatious grin, and then scowled when he looked away.

"Are you mad that he didn't keep looking at you?" I asked incredulously. Was she seriously that shallow? I wouldn't have guessed.

She looked at me in surprise. "What? No! I'm just tired of people staring at me." She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I am not that shallow."

Huh. I was okay at reading people, and Alicia sounded like she was as sincere on the outside as she was on the inside.

"It's because you're pretty," Marc said, shaking his head as if explaining something to a three year old. Alicia shot him a weird look.

Why did it seriously annoy me to hear him say that? Why couldn't he say _I_ was pretty?

_Seriously, Candace? Are you seriously like that?_

Ugh. That damn voice in my head again. Okay, that sentence wasn't weird at all.

_No! I don't even know why I thought that!_

_I think I do,_ the voice said slyly. How did that make sense? How could a part of me know what I didn't even know? Damn stupid voice. Stop confuzzlling me.

I realized I was glaring at Alicia, and I quickly shook myself before she noticed.

"Wait—where are Katie-Rose and Jake?"

"Oh, my God! Are they lost? Were they kidnapped? Marc! How could you be so irresponsible?" Alicia was freaking out, something I didn't think she normally did.

"They're with Alex and Savannah," Marc said calmly, "Relax."

"Oh." Alicia was quiet. She zoned out for a second, thenshook herself, then zoned out again. Then her eyes widened. I blinked, and she wasn't there anymore.

"Where did she go?" I was confused and looked around.

"She's with her friend and Alex," Marc said. He smiled at my confused look. How had he been able to track her that fast? That girl was like a bullet.

And that left me and him alone. Why did that idea thrill me and make me nervous at the same time?

* * *

Alicia was freaking out. Then suddenly, she stopped, looked between Candace and I, and her eyes widened as if she had discovered the meaning of life. Almost faster than my eyes could track, she sped off to Savannah to reveal her important discovery. I shook my head. The girls here were so weird.

"Where did she go?" asked Candace, blinking and rubbing her eyes as if that would make Alicia reappear.

"She's with her friend and Alex," I said. I smiled at her confused look. She checked back to see if I was lying, and then shrugged.

"Guess it's just you and me then," she said.

Me and Candace. Her and her honey locks, her chocolate eyes, her cherry lips. _Note to self: Get food faster. You're comparing a pretty girl to food._

But seriously. Her hair was shining under the May sun, her face fitting in right with the beautiful blossoms that hadn't yet faded from the spring trees. I really, really wanted to kiss her just then. Her lips looked so soft and inviting. I mean, lips like those shouldn't just be exposed to people. They might blind them with their kissableness.

I realized that I was staring at her. Great. Now she must think I'm a creeper too.

Surprisingly, she blushed and looked away. We returned to our pointless small talk. I learned that she loved raspberries, hated licorice, adored her older sister Andrea and was pretty much always seriously peeved at her older brother Justin. I told her about Cass, my older-by-ten-months-and-will-never-let-me-forget-it sister, who was just as annoying as Candace's older brother sounded. I was surprised when we finally got to Starbucks.

"So, whatdy'all want?" asked Alicia as she ushered the younger kids through the door.

"Pumpkin spice latte," said Katie-Rose, surprising everyone.

Pumpkin Spice latte? Did her mom seriously let her have that?

Apparently Candace was thinking the same thing, because she looked doubtful.

"Pumpkin Spice latte? Does that have caffeine in it?" whispered Savannah to Alicia. Alicia snorted.

"No freaking duh," she said. Savannah glanced at Katie-Rose.

"Hon? You wanna get something different? I don't think Pumpkin Spice Latte is the best choice."

"Pumpkin Spice Latte," Katie-Rose said firmly.

"Katie-Rose, I don't even think Pumpkin Spice Latte is at Starbucks anymore. It's spring," Alex tried to reason with her.

Katie-Rose shook her head. "Pumpkin Spice Latte."

Jake tried to help. "Alex says Pumpkin Spice Latte's not here," he said. It was obvious how much he liked Alex.

"Pumpkin Spice Latte," Katie-Rose repeated. Where did she get this stuff anyways?

"Katie-Rose, Pumpkin Spice Latte went to Mars to visit its cousin Vanilla Mocha, so unless you want to go to Mars and meet all sorts of scary aliens, there's no way you can have it, sorry honey." Alicia's voice was soothing, and I was impressed. She knew how to talk to kids.

Katie-Rose looked doubtful for a moment, then shook her little head again so that her blond curls swayed. "Pumpkin Spice Latte," she said decisively. "Besides, why would Vanilla Mocha want to live on Mars with scary aliens?"

And now I was even more impressed by this girl than the other.

Alicia sighed and turned to me.

"Um, Katie-Rose, Pumpkin Spice Latte is dea—" Alicia glared at me, and I changed my "dead" to "dea—f. It can't hear you. Um, and if it can't hear you, then it can't come over." I was actually pretty proud of myself. I am a man of originality, if I do say so myself.

Apparently I was the only one to think that, because Savannah shot me a look, like, _really_? I shrugged.

"Pumpkin Spice Latte," Katie-Rose said again. "It's okay. He doesn't need to come. The counter guy can give him to me."

This girl was one determined niña.

"Don't you want a hot chocolate instead?" asked Savannah.

"Pumpkin Spice latte."

"Want a muffin?" Alex offered.

"Pumpkin Spice latte."

"A caramel mocha?" Alicia threw out, desperate.

Everyone looked at her. She shrugged helplessly.

"Pumpkin Spice latte."

I laughed and quickly turned it into a cough when seeing all the girls round on me like synchronized scary rabid cats.

"A cookie?" I helped.

"Pumpkin Spice latte."

Just as we were about to give up, Candace leaned down and whispered something into Katie-Rose's ear, and Katie-Rose giggled.

"Actu-Ally, I want a Cake Pop," she decided. Savannah smiled at the way she said "actually."

Why hadn't we just done that from the beginning?

* * *

I was with Jeremy, when the jingling of a bell stopped our conversation. We turned.

And there they were.

The Flock.

All six of them—plus a Hispanic girl who must have been Ella.

"Jeremy," I whisper-shouted. "Look! It's them!"

He didn't even ask who "them" was. He turned around and his eyes widened.

"Oh, my gosh, Susie! There's Max, and Fang, and Iggy and Nudge! And Gazzy and little Angel! And—wait, who's that girl?"

"Ella," I explained patiently.

"Oh, my gosh! And Ella!"

"D'you think we should ask for their autographs?" I said.

"Definitely," he agreed. "But let's observe them first."

"Take pictures," I said. "I'll take the notes."

"Definitely," he repeated. He took out his official Maximum Ride camera and snapped a few shots.

"Pumpkin Spice Latte," Angel was saying. The rest of the Flock plus Ella kept throwing out suggestions, but Angel kept insisting on Pumpkin Spice Latte. I smiled, because that was so Angel of her.

But the rest of the Flock, strangely, was being out of character. Max was less imposing, Fang talked too much, Nudge was too quiet, and Iggy wasn't joking enough. The only thing about Gazzy that was the same was his admiration for Iggy. Huh.

"They don't have a lot of money," Jeremy whispered. "Let's pay for their drinks. We'll probably become best friends."

"Yeah!" I whisper-shouted.

I noticed that other people around me were whispering too. But instead of hearing the Flock's names, I was hearing, "Oh, my gosh! Candace Freeman!", "Aw! That little girl is so cute!" and "Is the hot guy from that movie we saw last year?"

What? Who the hell was Candace Freeman?

I shrugged and went back to my Maximum Ride documenting. I touched my heart when Max whispered something to Angel and she smiled. They had always gotten along the best.

"Jeremy, let's put these in our Max Ride scrapbook," I decided.

"So there," he agreed. We did our secret Maximum Ride handshake.

* * *

So they were at Starbucks, huh? I snapped a shot of Subject Five hugging Subject Three, which didn't look at all suspect because the kids in the booth next to me were doing exactly the same thing. Everyone was snapping shots of the famous Candace Freeman, the girl who had starred in so many movies and had won so many awards that even her biggest fan wouldn't be able to count them. Little ignorant fools. They don't realize the true meaning of this.

"Pumpkin Spice Latte," said the little blonde one. The elders tried to reason with her, but she repeated it like a mantra.

Hmm. The girl was stubborn. A good trait. But I would have to record that, because you never know what might get in your way.

Besides, it didn't look at all suspect.

The kids in the booth next to me were doing exactly the same thing.

* * *

**So, what did you think? Did you like it? Review! It takes me a really, really long time to write these, so you better review or else. And I mean it.**

**And to answer some people:**

**1) sorry, I've gotten a lot of people asking for Niggy, so sorry if you guys don't like it. It'll come later, though.**

**2) I don't know when I should update. Feel free to request days.**

**3) a special shoutout to ILOVEMEERKATS and RedPenWriter13. And Shatem Glareee for the most long and supportive review I've ever gotten.**

**So, what did you think of the 'Maximum ride creepers' POV? And the Alex-Alicia reconciliation?**

**And PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE!**

**Lol!**

**Love y'all! Bye!**

**~Ami****


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